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All Nippon Airways

All Nippon Airways (ANA) is celebrating the rollout of its first Airbus A380 from the Airbus Paintshop in Hamburg, Germany. And the plane is pretty darn cute.

The new plane sports a paint job featuring the Hawaiian green sea turtle, known as “Honu.” The turtle not only makes a cute livery, it has special meaning: in the Hawaiian language, the sea turtle symbolizes good luck and prosperity.

ANA is scheduled to receive this new A380 jet, nicknamed FLYING HONU, in March 2019. The plane’s inaugural flight is scheduled to leave from Tokyo Narita Airport and travel to Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu on May 24, 2019.

ANA is set to get three Airbus A380s and each will feature livery in different colors and with different designs.

The blue livery of the Flying Honu, the first aircraft, links ANA’s corporate color scheme with Hawaii’s blue skies.

The second aircraft is expected to begin operating in July 2019 and it will have emerald green livery inspired by the waters of Hawaii.

The third A380 will be orange, in reference to the beautiful Hawaiian sunset.

“The Airbus A380 will be an important addition to ANA’s current fleet and it will allow passengers to reach the scenic islands of Hawaii in comfort and style,” said Yutaka Ito, ANA’s Executive Vice President. “The customized livery adds a personal touch that will make the trip that much more memorable,” he added.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways – ANA – is getting its first Airbus A380 and will introduce it on the Tokyo-Honolulu route starting spring 2019. When it does, the plane will be painted to look like an endangered Hawaiian green sea turtle (‘Honu’ in Hawaiian) – which is a symbol of luck and prosperity.

The “FLYING HONU” design was chosen from more than 2,000 contest submissions and the winner received a pair of round-trip business class tickets between Tokyo and Honolulu.

In announcing the special livery, ANA said it will also be supporting activities in Hawaii to protect the Hawaiian green sea turtle and will introduce yet-to-be-finalized new passengers services for the plane and the route.

Meanwhile, earlier this month EVA Air launched a new “Travel Fun” Sanrio character-jet adorned with the character Bad Badtz-Maru that will be flying on the Taipei-Fukuoka and Taipei-Seoul routes.

The Airbus A330-300 is the first to fly internationally with a Bad Badtz-Maru livery and shows a vacation-ready Bad Badtz-Maru and some of his friends, along with hats, a camera, snacks and other items.

Released just in time for the holidays, when people find flying even more stressful than usual, the ‘ANA Takeoff Mode’ app offers fliers a simple, distracting puzzle (users must maneuver a ball on screen to collect points), along with relaxing music.

Designed to be used during take-off, when anxious fliers are often the most fearful – and when passengers are now allowed to keep their electronic devices turned on (officially) – the app somehow also measures the amplitude and frequency response of the ambient noise inside the aircraft cabin and, when the aircraft’s engines are at full throttle during takeoff, a special animation and message is triggered.

I’m joining ANA – All Nippon Airways – in Tokyo for two days (yes, just two days!) for the opening of the new International Terminal at Haneda Airport.

Spotted in Domestic Terminal at Haneda October 20,2010

I’ll have lots to share shortly about the planetarium and other intriguing amenities at this new terminal, but in the meantime I wanted to share my favorite in-flight amenity from the ANA flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo.

The airline has two versions of these Sleep Support “aroma” cards, one called Relax, which emits a lavender aroma when you press “Push” and another called Refresh, which features “ANA Original Aroma.”

ANA Sleep Support aroma cards

I requested extras so will award this to StuckatTheAirport.com readers who send along great Souvenir Sunday photos.

When I toured one of Boeing’s test 787 Dreamliner planes recently, I was pleased to see that the lavatories feature touchless faucets and flushers, as well as a nifty feature that automatically puts down the toilet seat lid.

(Photo by Jerome Tso)

And back in November, 2009, I was intrigued by the news from ANA (All Nippon Airways) that it was the first airline to install warm water “washlets” – bidet toilets – in the First and Business Class lavatories onboard its Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft.

Now comes news that on March 1st (the beginning of Women’s History Month), the airline will designate one ladies-only lavatory on each airplane serving international routes (except those served by A320/B737 aircraft).

(You’ll know it’s the ladies-only lav by the pink sign!)

Why a woman’s only lav? Women who have flown on long flights don’t even need to ask. But an ANA spokesman explains it this way: “Many customers requested it, so, in order to enhance their in-flight experience, comfort and convenience, we’re implementing it.”

Enough toilet talk? Before you go, take a moment to watch the “Art of Arrival” animation on the ANA website. It uses the Japanese animation style known as anime and, like the ladies-only lavs, is quite unusual.